The ephemerality of bearing witness: participatory refugee theatre with Syrian young adults in exile

ABSTRACT

In this essay, we critically reflect upon the ephemeral nature of theatre. Such a reflection becomes particularly important in participatory refugee theatre, since the process of participants' bearing witness to experiences of trauma and violence is emphasised as the core impetus. To this end, we investigate the experiences of Syrian young adults participating in a theatre project in Belgium. We argue that the ephemeral nature of theatre enables a potential to initiate reparative pathways of bearing witness by creating a space that may hold both remembrance and forgetfulness, as well as distance and interconnectedness. In a final section, we discuss the implications for theatre practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugees
• collective violence
• forced displacement
• participatory theatre
• ephemerality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds Universiteit Gent.